Do Everything in Love for God and Man - Zac Poonen - March 3, 2013

Jesus is the light of the world and he told us you're the light of the world John's Gospel begins with in him was life and the life was the light of men says about John the Baptist that he came to bear witness to that light but he was not that light but jesus said I'm the light of the world and then he told his disciples in John 9 I'm only the light of the world as long as I'm in this world a lot of Christians don't know that do you know that Jesus is not the light of the world today if you didn't know that read John chapter 9 verse 5 while I'm in the world I am the light of the world he left the earth nearly 2,000 years ago then who is the light of the world now if you read in Matthew 5 in verse 14 he made that clear he turned to his disciples and he said you are the light of the world have we understood that why is it we always think yeah Jesus is the light of the world Jesus the light of the world you ask any Christian he'll say that have you ever dared to say to somebody when somebody asks you the light of the world say me I like to surprise people and then I quote scripture Matthew 5:14 you know we the reason why we are not willing to face up to that is because we shirk responsibility we want to avoid responsibility we want to say don't look at me look at Jesus no apostle said that the Apostles always said follow me as I follow Christ now I want to say to every one of you you want to be a disciple of Jesus not just one who says well I my sins are forgiven I'm going to have in one day but if you want to be a disciple of Jesus you have to be the light of the world you have to turn around to others and say follow me your husbands have got to turn to your wives and say look at my life and follow me look at the way I speak learn to speak like that look at the way I speak like it says there with kindness and love speak like that look at the way I live look at the way I handle money follow me as I follow Christ you know we don't want that and that's why we say no no Jesus the light of the world don't look at me I'm a sinner well I was a sinner I'm a sinner saved by grace not just a sinner forgiven but saved so what is this light you know in John John John loved to use that word he frequently uses it and it's been the Gospels more than anybody else and then in the episode he says God is light so when we use the word light we know what light is but what does it actually mean in our personal life what does it mean in practical terms in John's Gospel it becomes in John's episode rather it becomes very clear because there are two places where it says what God is 1 John 1 verse 5 God is light that's clear and then 1 John 4:8 God is love that defines what that light is that light is love in him was life it was a life of perfect love that's why it was a light of man and that's the light he wants to give us a heart that's filled with love I'm often when I've instructed people how to study the Bible one of the things I have taught people everywhere is never get a doctrine from the Acts of the Apostles like I said yesterday never get a doctrine from a paraphrase a paraphrase is alike a commentary living Bible message Bible JB Phillips there are many paraphrases that that's not a translation even NIV s in some cases a paraphrase is not an exact translation it's good but you read it like a commentary so we don't look at paraphrases to understand scripture God is light that is love don't get a doctrine from the Acts of the Apostles I also say because in the Acts of the Apostles is a history book I remember once you know for example I'll give you one example of that I've been Pentecostal churches where they say how do you know you're filled with the Holy Spirit they see it turn to acts 2:4 they were all filled with the spirit and they all spoke with other tongues I say okay moved on I say to verse 44 they sold everything they had everything in common do you Pentecostals practice that no you pick and choose right then I went a Hutterite colony once and they quoted acts 244 to me they had all things in common I said before that it's acts 2:4 they all spoke in tongues so I like to tell people what they are not doing the Old Testament prophets never told the Israelites what they were doing they told them what they were not doing and that's why they killed them they didn't like to hear every Church likes to hear the things they made your but what they need to hear is the areas of their life they have failed in so I say don't get in doctrine from the Acts of the Apostles because if you get a doctrine of the accident box you got to sell everything you have everybody sitting here was not sold everything they have is not really obeying Scripture don't get a doctrine from the Acts of the Apostles Paul circumcised Timothy acts 16 don't get a doctrine from that and I could give you many many instances like that Paul shaved his head or you get from there Paul fought with Barnabas what do you get from that don't get a doctrine from the Acts of the Apostles okay once you have understood that how did how then do I know whether I'm filled with the Holy Spirit what does the Spirit of God fill my heart with get a doctrine from the episodes from the teaching sections of Scripture when you go to the Gospels I say the same thing if you want to understand scripture when you go to the Gospels don't get a doctrine from the historical sections of the gospels jesus healed everybody so everybody must be healed where does it happen anybody who says that is a liar when they say everybody's healed there are as many sick people in Pentecostal charismatic churches as there are in Baptist brethren assemblies who don't believe in healing don't be fooled by all this teaching you can't get a doctrine from the historical sections of scripture you get when you go to the Gospels get the teaching of Jesus from there you get a doctrine people have asked me this is for example brother sang why don't you preach a message on physical healing I say show me one message Jesus preached on physical healing I preached it show me one message that Paul or Peter or anybody preached on physical healing I preached it show me one chapter anywhere in the New Testament that talks about physical healing I preached it you'll find one verse on healing in the entire New Testament whistles that's in James five the algorithm pray with anointing with oil for the sake but I'll show you a thousand verses on holiness and humility and love in the teaching sections of Scripture don't get a doctrine from the historical sections of the New Testament you will be saved a lot of confusion it's a simple principle of Bible study they won't teach you that in the Bible colleges but if you study under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he will teach you that okay so what is the mark of being filled with the Holy Spirit here it is Romans five verse five this is not the teaching this is not the historical section this is not acts 2:4 if you go to the teaching section of Scripture you see 1 Corinthians 12 not all speak in tongues so that's not the mark of being fill of the Spirit but Romans 5 says the love of God is poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit given to us so what is it the Holy Spirit floods our heart with the love of God now there's a difference between the love of God and human love is a great difference it's not human love a lot of people when they think about love they get that definition in the dictionary or their human understanding of love there's one big difference between God's love and human love human love is conditional God's love is unconditional unconditional means you can't change him by something you do his attitude towards you human love is you love me I love you you give me a gift I give you a gift you come and greet me on my birthday I'll come greet you on your birthday it's all you know it's like tennis you hit the ball back to me I'll hit it back to you but the Lord keeps hitting the ball and we never return it he still keeps hitting balls at us that's his love its capsule it's unconditionally that in that way but that doesn't mean I believe one day you will discover I don't think we see it clearly yet one day you will discover that hell is a mark of God's love you don't understand that that's perfectly right because we don't see things clearly yet one day you will see that everything that God did throughout human history was in love a lot of Christians read about why does God allow the Canaanites to be killed I am under snow one God so much now through the years that I see every single thing he did was in perfect love you can't explain it to kindergarten children who don't understand God's love kindergarten children spiritual kindergarten children they could be 60 years old 70 years old they're spiritually in the kindergarten the only understand human love God's love is a far greater level than human love he can give a person sickness he can give his greatest servant the Apostle Paul a thorn in the flesh as a gift you know that's what it says in 2nd Corinthians 12 there was given to me 2nd Corinthians 12 a thorn in the flesh a given means a gift imagine one day you're somebody sends you by FedEx or something packet and you open and there's a beautiful wrapped up in nice shiny paper and ribbon a gift for your birthday and you open it and there's a thorn only God would give gifts like that because He loves us he loved Paul so much he said this man is such a mighty wholehearted dedicated servant of mine he's been so useful so useful I've not I don't have another man like him on the earth I don't want him ruined and I know how there's a tendency in the flesh of man to become proud when others around us or not around Paul were not being used as much as him when he had planted more churches than the others he was more gifted than the others he his prayers were answered he even raised the dead written the scripture more Scripture than anyone else in the New Testament there was the danger even Paul was in danger of getting puffed out and there's an unchangeable law of God that God opposes the proud doesn't matter who it is even if it's fall he'll oppose it and he gives grace wholly to the humble that's an unchangeable law of God it doesn't matter who it is it's like the law of gravity the law of gravity if you jump off the roof the law of gravity doesn't check out whether you're a believer or an unbeliever it just pulls you down it makes absolutely no difference to the law of gravity who you are if you violate it you suffer for it it's like that with God God opposes the proud it says and it doesn't matter if that proud person is Hitler or it doesn't matter that proud person is the Apostle Paul God will oppose him but he gives grace to the humble and the way I picture that verse in 1 Peter 5:5 is that God gives me grace means he gets behind me and pushes me forward and I can have all my lusts opposing me the devil opposing me men opposing me all 7 billion people in the world opposing me they will not be able to conquer because God's pushing me forward nothing can stop me from fulfilling God's will mountains cannot stand in my way but the moment I become proud the moment I become proud God comes down to the front and starts pushing me back now I've already got so many things pushing me back the devil people who hate me my lusts and on top of that if God Himself begins to push me back I'm doomed I want to tell you my dear brothers and sisters all backsliding is only due to pride people lose their first love because of pride what is backsliding backsliding means God's push you back how long the world can I be backslider the gods pushing me forward is there any power on earth it can stop me is there any power in hell that can stop me when God's behind me pushing me forward tell me Almighty God who created this universe gets behind me and push me forward what power is there that can hinder me from shooting forward like a rocket we destroy ourselves by pride so when if any of your backsliding and if you are cooling off you know the answer it's pride God's not behind you brother he's pushing your back you better wake up because a lot of other forces pushing you back and if you keep going that way whatever doctrine you may believe about once saved always said you'll finally land in hell if God keeps pushing you back there's only one place you can end up that's hell there's no other place you can end up there's no force on earth that can take you to heaven if God's pushing you back there are very few who have understood that that the great Gulf that separates heaven from hell which Abraham told the rich man in hell about is pride that's the only thing that prevents people from getting into God's kingdom and as I said it doesn't matter whether that pride is found in a Hitler or a Paul and God love brought so much that he said the only way I can humble this man is by giving him some physical ailment I don't know what it was we get a hint of it in Galatians you know in Galatians he says I tried to find her what is that thorn in the flesh that Paul had in Galatians Paul says you know verse 13 chapter 4 verse 13 you know that it is because of the bodily illness that I preached the gospel to you the first time did you know that did you know that Paul preached the gospel to the Galatians not because of a supernatural revelation from a man saying go to Galatia sometimes he leads like that he went to Philip I like that you read in acts 16 that Paul had a vision one day a man from Macedonia that's from Philip I said come and help us they woke up the next morning off it's wonderful to be led by light led by God like that but you know how he was led to Galatia God has different ways of leading us sometimes by visions you turn back to Acts chapter 16 you read how Paul was led to sorry X third how Paul has led the Galatia yeah acts 16 verse 6 they'd have no intention to stay in Galatia they wanted to move on to Asia Minor and they wanted to pass through acts 16 six Phrygia and Galatia in order to go to Asia Minor but when they reached Galatia the Holy Spirit forbid them from going to Asia but it doesn't tell us how how did Paul get stuck in Galatia how did the Holy Spirit forbid him from moving to Asia Minor make him stuck in Galatia he tells us in Galatians 4:13 I was sick that's another way God leads us not just by visions by down-to-earth methods by making us sick Paul was sick in Galatia all his plans to go to major/minor were disrupted and he hung around in Galatia and preached the gospel there and people were converted never churches in that whole region that was God's plan Paul hadn't understood that theory sometimes we don't understand clearly sometimes we do our vision tells us to go to Philippi sometimes God has to make us sick I have written many articles and books through the in the last 40 years but what I consider personally the most effective article I ever wrote my life was when God put me in a sick bed in a hospital for ten days and every day God spoke to me and I wrote down what he said it's a little article called God needs men 50 points about the type of man God needs it's in that book called new wine and new wine skins are on our website but I learned from that that it's not by some special vision and all that God often speaks sometimes by illness lie down so and then Paul says it's just through the sickness Galatians 4:13 there was with you and my sickness my bodily condition Galatians 4:14 was was a trial to you now if I heave he had some internal cancer or something how in the world can that be a trial to him - the people are listening to him and if I've got a cancer right now you don't even know about it but if I've got something physical that you feel repelled by save my eyes were drooling with pus or something all the time that would be a pretty bit of a burden to you my bodily condition you didn't load me or despise me there was something about Paul's appearance his sickness caused which could have made people loathe him and he said you know what you love me so much verse 15 that you would have even plucked out your eyes and given them to me so that gives me a little hint that's what his sickness was some type of problem he had with his eyes maybe he just couldn't stop them something flowing down some sickness he prayed Lord heal me this looks terrible people people will be repelled when they see me like this standing in the pulpit he'll be Lord no answer heal me heal me finally Lord says no that'll keep you humble Paul my anointing will still be on you even though you don't look so attractive God has ways of humbling his servants so that he can give them grace so this light that I was speaking about Jesus said about the church in Luke chapter 11 it's only by grace that I can have you see the Holy Spirit is called the spirit of grace and to be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be propelled by God forward to move to me that one of the most beautiful pictures is the rocket how it shoots up you can't stop it gravity is trying to pull it down all the time but it shoots up and goes beyond the pull of gravity after a while to me that's one of the most beautiful modern-day pictures of a man filled with the Holy Spirit a rocket I mean it's it's just it's just that fire in the rocket that makes it go out that is the picture of the baptism of fire and a church filled like that with fire is what the world needs to see every church must be like that burning bush every church must be like that Tabernacle with a fire of God at night people could see there's the fire of God God is there that should be the mark of every church a church that is on fire of God on the fire on fire for God a man who's on fire for God not a wise once and fire for God but all the time the fire of love so Luke chapter 11 verse 33 no one after lighting a lamp puts it in arena cellar but puts it on a lamp stand and we know from Revelation chapter 1 that lamp stand is the church and the fire the light is the power of the Holy Spirit the fire of the Holy Spirit and this light is on the lamp stand so that all who come in can see the light they don't see the lamp stand they see the light and it says your body must be like that full of light verse 34 and this part which I like is verse 36 the whole body full of life with no dark part in it as it shall be fully illumined with the lamp illumines you with as when a lamp balloons with its rays so when we see that light means love I read it like this your whole heart filled with love for God and love for others with no hatred in it in any part nothing no small corner of your heart where there is no love the lamp gives out its rays so when Jesus said you're the light of the world that's what it means a heart filled with love for Jesus Christ like we heard well for our bridegroom there is a song which some of you may know the sands of time are sinking the dawn of heaven breaks I always I love one of those verses in that song which I sing to myself many times the bride eyes not her garment but heard your bridegroom's face you know what that means bride walking up doesn't look at her beautiful dress but at her bridegroom the bride eyes not her garment but her dear bridegroom's face I will not gaze at glory but on my king of grace not at the crown he giveth but his nail-pierced hand not at the crown he giveth but his nail-pierced hand because the lamb is all the glory in Emmanuel's land I sing that to myself many times when I was converted the first book in the Bible I studied was Song of Solomon and God sovereignly led me to that and I think there was a reason for it God knew that my Christian life would be a very lonely part it has been because I faced tremendous opposition for the things I proclaimed and stood for from other Christians and so very early in my life he brought me into a bridal relationship with him and that's why he made me study the Song of Solomon first and if you see look at my first Bible my son of Psalm is covered with all types of notes every page there's no book in the Bible which I covered with notes as much as that and I'm very thankful that through the lonely parts that I walked I've never felt lonely because the Lord has been with me and over the years has never disturbed me that so many people are against me or speak against me or write things against me god bless them and it's never made me hate them how can I hit the Lord's pushing me forward it's impossible to hate a person and God fills your heart with this spirit I tell you it's an amazing thing you may not believe it I've dared to tell people this is impossible for you to hate your brother or anyone else now we don't get there overnight it took me many many years to get there so I'm not telling you to feel condemned if you find a struggle with that but I found the Christian life something like this in the beginning before we are converted we got so much hatred and bitterness against so many people and jealousy and all types of thing name it every wretched thing that devil put into the race of Adam was in our heart in my heart too then we get converted were born again and the light of God comes into us but then we we know that I shouldn't hate and I every now that I hear a message I shouldn't hate night but I'm still tempted so strongly to hate now the great battle I love and sometimes I don't succeed and I hate and it's just like you know the Christian life be mountains and valleys we do the right thing and then we fall and we do the right thing and we fall and even in marriage we fight and quarrel and then get up and then ask forgiveness and then we fight in quarrel again fighting and calling is a mark of hatred whether you know it or not at that moment you hate your wife or your husband otherwise you wouldn't be fighting you may say you love very much it's not really true is this this cinema type of love you know it's it's just words honey darling 6 I mean one hour later I can't stand the sight of you I mean I can't say the sight of you he said it's all contradictory it's a deception this is not divine love you know how Jesus described divine love he said you means be like your father who makes the Sun to shine on the good and the evil if some evil person says son I hate you the Sun still shines brightly on him makes no difference I don't believe in you doesn't make a difference Sun still shines on you jesus said be like that your father is like that that's what I mean by God's love is you can't change him you can't make him hate you he'll punish you he may send you to hell but it'll be out of love God is love and so we go through that stage where we battle battle but if you're satisfied with that you live like that forever and a lot of Christians live like that forever they come to a meeting like this you get all stirred up in challenge I almost love people I'm going to love people or I must love Jesus I must have a bridal relationship with him I must look at all my life like walking down the island but it doesn't last long you need another message six months later to hear the same thing you know what the answer to that is you have to be filled with the Holy Spirit continuously be being filled with the Holy Spirit Ephesians 5:18 the literal translation is be being filled with the Holy Spirit not just once be continuously filled with the Holy Spirit and then believe it or not you can come to a place you can come to the place where it will be impossible to hate it'll be impossible to be bitter that doesn't mean that you'll go visiting everybody's house of the people who hated you I have told people the Bible says pursue peace with all men and the best way to pursue peace with the coddles quarrels of man is by never visiting him the best way to pursue peace with a quarrelsome relative is by don't visit them because I want to pursue peace because every past experience you visit them they kick up a fight I want to pursue peace so I don't mean Jesus didn't go visiting all the Pharisees houses he loved them you know people sometimes ask me whether Zack you say we must forgive everybody doesn't mean I got to go visiting all those people who forgive I say no I'm not saying that I remember once after meeting a lady came up to me and said my brother-in-law molested me sexually I've forgiven him but should I go and greet him I said no steer clear of him don't go anywhere near him the God the Word of God is realistic so we don't understand love doesn't mean we go gotta go and hang around with somebody but I got to make sure our attitude Jesus didn't hang around with the Pharisees he whom he loved but are there was zero hatred in Jesus life one of the beautiful descriptions of that love this is the love of God we read in Song of Solomon in Song of Solomon it says love is described like this Song of Solomon in chapter 6 asari chapter 8 verse 6 and 7 Song of Solomon chapter 8 verse 6 and 7 he says love is as strong as death what does that mean you know the meaning of that no matter how much you fight that one day we conquer you nobody can conquer that permanently you can fight it fight it fight medicine treatment all that type of stuff it'll conquer you love is like that the love of God you cannot overcome it and you can be full of hatred if you like but God's love won't change he's always going to be loved and it says the love of God is like flashes of fire in the very flame of Jehovah the very flame of the Lord the last part of verse 6 that's the only place the word Jehovah comes in the Song of Solomon the very flame of the Lord and it says here this love is so powerful like a fire that many waters cannot quench it you pour buckets on this fire you cannot quench it and then he says this amazing thing rivers cannot quench it can you can have you ever seen a fire where a river flows through it in the fire is still burning and the rivers all burnt up in the steam it's an amazing description of the love of God and that's what you see on Calvary geez the love of Jesus burning like this flame and people pouring hatred and bitterness upon him and quenched it all and said Father forgive them they don't know what they're doing what a large hearted attitude to have you think those Pharisees didn't know what they were doing I think what Jesus meant was they don't know the seriousness of what they're doing I mean anybody knows what he's doing when he's killing a man of crucifying someone but they don't know the seriousness of it that's the love of God and I say Lord I want this many of us say we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit I feel sad that so many people seek for the gift of tongues God gave me the gift of tongues when I was not seeking it I thank God for it but much more than that I thank God that he filled my heart with love fervent love for Jesus Christ that's propelled me through so many years and it gets and I never get tired my body may get weak and my back may ache and there's so many other things right but the love of God keeps pushing me forward it's a tremendous power it can keep you healthy a lot of sicknesses come because we allow a little bit of something contrary to love in our heart I would say whenever you're sick the first thing you should do is search your heart if there's any unloving attitude of thought in your heart towards anyone sometimes we don't know it what is the opposite of love selfishness that's the opposite of love not just hatred if I say hatred initially I don't hate anybody okay but there's another thing which is the opposite of love that is selfishness where I think of myself and I'm not concerned that my attitude is inconveniencing others because I don't love them do you inconvenience others in the home you live in in your own home or any home you visit or love a visit or staying we don't see that you see I don't hate them I know you don't hate them but you're so utterly selfish in the way you live there you don't love them it's not a flame there's a little candle burning there you call that love no the flame of Java is the flame of the Lord is of burning such a fire that rivers cannot quench you can't produce it brother you can try all your life you can't produce it you have to be filled with the Holy Spirit that's why I keep saying the whole secret to the Christian lives to be filled with the holy spirit that's the thing that helps why did Jesus say if you want to follow me you have to deny yourself life you deny your selfishness not just study the Bible you've got to say no to your selfishness and I want to encourage you if you really want this love life of love where you love Jesus with all your heart and your heart is filled with love for people ask God I mean the seriously ask God to show you not where you hate people you may not hit anybody ask God to show you where your downright selfish where you're inconsiderate about others that's where you'll see a lack of love where you're inconsiderate about your wife inconsiderate about your husband we are thoughtless where you make other people in the church work and you just sit back and enjoy their benefit of their labor and as you say thank God I'm such a good church so many people to serve me this is the church I want to be in all my life you're a downward selfish man you don't know anything about God and you will never know because you're not interested in letting the Holy Spirit to show you your selfishness and we can't discover it all of a sudden selfishness is like a massive onion and God waits for you to see whether you're eager to see the layers of that onion and when he shows you one layer and you are willing to take the blame and say Lord that's my fault I was utterly utterly selfish there in the way I behaved in that church situation or in my laziness in that conference where I didn't lift a finger to help anybody or in my home I was just concerned with studying the Bible and not helping my wife was struggling with a children though I see a layer of selfishness and I don't want to just talk about love I want to peel off that layer and when you peel it off you haven't come to the end of it God will show you another layer that is progressive sanctification it's not knowledge of the Bible the devil knows the Bible better than any of us he doesn't make him holy it won't make you holy so many Christians think they are very zealous because they are arguing for some particular thing in the Bible this Bible that by like I said King James Version or this verse of that verse brother that's not the thing if you were half as zealous for all those things as if you're half as zealous to discover selfishness you're like in your life you'd have been a much more spiritual person today than arguing about verses go back 600 years 700 years do you think Christians were arguing about some verse in the Bible they didn't have a Bible how could they argue about it the Bible was not even divided into chapters and verses how could you quote a verse to somebody 800 years ago how did Christians live for a thousand years not quoting this verse and that verse in the other verse if it was so necessary to have a printed Bible that would have allowed printing to be discovered at least two three hundred years before Christ yeah and if it was so necessary to have a King James Version here to make King James be born three hundred years before Christ not in 1611 that's not the thing brother or sister it's selfishness you don't need the Bible to get light on it you need the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit will convict men the world of sin and this is the area where we need to get light more and more and more and more selfishness and pride these are the two areas a massive two massive onions that we carry out around in our heart and if we work on it when it says work out your salvation with fear and trembling because God is working in you that's the full verse by the way Philippians 2:13 and 14 it's not just work out your salvation with fear and trembling that's one side of truth the other side is because God is at work in you work Philippians 2:12 and 13 work out your salvation because God is working in you what God works in you got to work out because God is working in you it's God was working in you first and let me tell you another simple principle of New Testament the way the Bible uses whenever it speaks about God working outside God works all things together for good that's the father whenever it speaks about God working inside it's always the Holy Spirit when it says God works in you that's the Holy Spirit working in you to make you do his will and his good pleasure to do what pleases him and you got to work it out it's not automatic Jesus said take my yoke upon you that means one end of the yoke is on Jesus neck and the other end is on means like two Bullock's it's like a senior bullet training this inexperienced stubborn junior little baby Bullock like me to learn how to love and all the circumstances that Almighty God our Father takes us through in life is to teach us to love that's why he allows people to hate you I told you the other day that two prayers I've been praying for quite some time now is one Lord before I leave this earth I want to obey every single commandment that you've given for Christians I don't want to leave this earth with one commandment that you gave for Christians not obeyed now I'm saying yesterday if you send your child to college you want him to complete all his courses not 50% of them not even 90% of them you don't send your child to school without having finished 90% of his homework he's got to finish all the problems well it's exactly like that God sent me here this is a this is a school this is a college I'm going through on this earth and I've been getting an education ever since I was converted for 54 years there are many courses to be completed those are the commandments so how can I obey the commandment love your enemies if I don't have enemies so I thank God for enemies how can I obey the commandment that bless bless those who curse you if nobody curses me I really thank God for those who curse me they've helped me to obey commandment learn to thank God the Bible says give thanks for all men have you read that verse 1 Timothy 2:1 give thanks for all then can you look around at some of the people who you couldn't give thanks for it till now and start giving thanks for them thank you brother or you're not a brother but anyway thank you man for helping me to obey God's commandments bless those who curse you pray for those who persecute you you need people to persecute you otherwise you'll never be able to obey that commandment when you're serious about obeying the commandments you get light on these things it's when I began to be serious about obeying the commandments that I got right on the fact that I need enemies I need people to curse me I need people to persecute me I need people to cheat me you know the part of Jesus education as a human being you know that the Bible says Jesus was made perfect I'd like to show I like to surprise people with scriptures they haven't read Hebrews chapter 5 verse 9 Jesus having been made perfect became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation does it mean he was imperfect well perfection has got two meanings there was no sin in him he was pure from the moment of birth there was no sin he didn't have sinful flesh he came only in the likeness the appearance of sinful flesh but there was no sin in him but it says in Luke chapter two he twice in verse forty and fifty to look to 42 he grew in wisdom God doesn't grow in wisdom but when he came to earth he had given up the prerogatives and privileges that he had as God like I said yesterday though he was a billionaire he wouldn't use that credit card of heaven he gave up he emptied himself and came to this earth and therefore he had to grow in wisdom those are verses in Scripture he grew in wisdom and finally completed his entire education on earth and perfect the word perfect just means complete it was like a glass being filled up - when the glass is full it is called a perfect glass that's all it means now it doesn't mean it was impure the glass is absolutely pure the water is absolutely pure water not a speck of dirt in it but it is not full that's all it means there's no impurity in Jesus but he grew in wisdom finally the glass was full perfect means he completed his entire education on earth was to grow in wisdom if you don't grow in wisdom and you grow in all the knowledge of your profession and science and math and how to make money and all the other rubbish that people pursue well that's ok for worldly people you but you're not getting the education God wants you to have and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom is the ABC of wisdom if you want to grow in wisdom you've gotta first of all learn to reverence God to respect him to tremble at his commandments nobody is ever going to go growing wisdom if he doesn't learn how to tremble at God's commandments and it says here how he learnt it verse 8 Hebrews 5:8 although he was a son there was no need for him to learn obedience up there and you know there's something that God can never learn when he's in heaven what's it that God can never learn when he's in heaven obedience how could he learn obedience he's Almighty God he just gives commands angels can learn obedience but not God the only way for God to learn obedience for him to be an example for us men who have to obey was for him to give up his privileges as God and become a man and he had to learn to obey Mary imperfect Mary the perfect son obeying imperfect Joseph imperfect Mary that's like you working in a factory or an office where you know 10 times more than your boss and you still have to obey Him can you imagine how much suffering that is your boss doesn't have a clue about the work but you're so experienced but you are under him so you got to listen to him that's real suffering that's what Jesus went through to obey imperfect parents some of us complain about imperfect elders well you haven't seen Jesus you haven't seen Jesus how he lived in the first 30 years all of you who complain about imperfections you see in your elders I would say ask the Holy Spirit to show you Jesus like Simon Peter saw Jesus one day and he said you're blessed flesh and blood did not reveal me to you my father in heaven only God can reveal the real Jesus to us one who learned obedience from the things which he suffered even Jesus had to suffer that's how he learned obedience he suffered as a child haven't we parents given commands to our children we should not have given we are imperfect we made mistakes I'm sure Joseph and Mary made lots more mistakes they were all covenant people Jesus suffered there as a child but he obey his father told him to obey when he was playing with the other children enjoying that game and his mother says Jesus come here I wanted to do something for me it's a suffering for a child to leave his friends in the middle of a very interesting game to go into a mummy every child of yours and tell you that Jesus suffered he had four brothers who did not believe in him two sisters can imagine how they irritated him for 30 years in his home or at least 20 years and he would never get irritated and I know how it is when a whole lot of number of children see one good boy in a class they want to gang up on him let me try and work him up and get him irritated somehow or the other but they didn't succeed the greatest miracle Jesus did was that he lived without getting irritated or upset for thirty years when people around him are doing that all the time and didn't sin in any way he suffered but he died father I will not respond in the way they are treating me fill me with love this is what it means to follow Jesus it's not arguing about scriptures those of you who have a great lust to argue about scriptures I tell you at least for the next 25 years forget it and start overcoming irritation anger bitterness selfishness and things like that believe me you'll thank me in the judgement seat of Christ for the advice I give you right now you will thank me because at last your eyes would be open to see what is more important I'm not against standing for the truth I have stood for the truth of the Scriptures so much that people have called me a heretic I don't care about that they called Paul a heretic they call Jesus a heretic I'm in good company but that's not what I pursue I don't spend my time fighting for doctrines I say Lord I want to the second thing I told you one is obey all the commandments secondly I want to do in my life is claim every promise and God's given people that is God's given for Christians I want to claim every single just like if you get ten checks you deposit all of them in the bank you don't just deposit nine of them that's what it means claim every promise I want to do it and the Bible says the Holy Spirit can fill my heart with the love of God Lord I want it the Bible says that as Jesus is so I can be in this world have you read that verse I told the people in our church I want you to put that up in a big plaque a wooden plank and big letters and put it in our meeting hall as Jesus is so are we in this world it's 1 John chapter 4 and verse 17 it made a tremendous difference to me when I realize this the place God had put me in I'm supposed to be Jesus in my home I'm supposed to be Jesus when I'm grabbing the ground the road everybody else can have a road rage but not me because there's one jesus driving down the road I thought to be the one person who's Jesus in the office the others can be here that they like but the gods put one Jesus there as Jesus is so am I in the world and if I'll take that seriously and say Lord Jesus there was not an atom of selfishness in Jesus Christ he was always considerate about others always always always and he was so sensitive to the Holy Spirit you see we can be considerate about people whom we see when we see a need that's the lowest level of consideration we should learn there when it's begin with the ABC where to make us I really believe I've seen so many Christians who don't realize how utterly inconsiderate they are in the way they conduct themselves but they think they're very spiritual Christians because they know so much of the Bible they can create and they sing so well they are totally inconsiderate you're Phil Brubaker was telling me the other day about a Lebanese man he met who said in Lebanon we have Christians Muslims and Jews Lebanese people and he says the Christians are the worst he says if their religion he's not himself was not a Christian he said if Christianity was really the truth it should at least make them better than the Jews and the Muslims in their conduct towards other people I've seen that inconsiderate I've seen Hindus who are considerate why is it Christians are so inconsiderate why is it Christians are so selfish you never think what do you think about themselves how is it does everything suit me fine here everything's okay the wonderful church I can belong to everybody cares for me you're not a Christian there are Jews and Hindus and Muslims who are better than you I say my brothers as I say it because I want to open your eyes so that you don't fool yourself living through this world for so many years thinking that you're very spiritual because you belong to a good church and there are nice good brothers and sisters around you and your children are going to a good sunday-school they're learning good things this is a good place to be in for my children to grow up that's not Christianity you ask your wife if she's not scared to tell you the truth some ways some husbands have so scared they're wise as wise won't tell them the truth but if you have delivered your wife from that fear ask her to tell you whether you're a selfish person or not I remember once a brother got up in our church and he went on and on and on and bored people and he just spoke about 10 minutes but it was boring if I didn't want to offend him I said brother will you do me a favor when you go home will you ask your wife what she thought of your message so the next Sunday I met him so did you ask your wife I see what did she say she said it was long and it was boring I said boy you're a lucky man you got such a good wife who's helping you to get sanctified I wish I were like that I asked my wife because you know one thing at least your wife loves you if somebody else comes and tells you you may think that he hates you that's why I told you that but but you know we need light on ourselves I'll tell you this we and sometimes we are so stubborn that Almighty God can't speak to us I remember once I had a dream where God was spoke to me through a dream he said it was a good I don't I mean all dreams are not from God most greens are because he ate too much at night or something like that but but one in at 10,000 dreams is from God I have had a few dreams like that and you got to discern which is from God or not and I said Lord what you could have told me that when I was away in the Lord said uncle now you're not listening to me when you're awake that's why I have to speak to you whether you're asleep I said Oh Lord I'm sorry I want to listen much more when I'm awake you don't have to always speak to me in a dream and I'll tell you it's me in a long time since God spoken to me in a dream but the last time is about 25 years ago so I because I just said Lord I want to listen to you and boy the selfishness he has shown me in my life layer after layer and I thought I had finished with it then I discover another the same with love of money I knew that I could never serve God if I love money jesus said that no man can serve two masters and the two masters are not God in the devil it's God and money and I knew that if I really wanted to serve God I had to be free from the love of money and serving otherwise I'd never be able to serve God and I was desperate to serve God the Lord said you got to be free from the love of money so I said Lorna I'm to the best of my knowledge I'm going to do everything to be free myself and I thought I was free and lo and behold some other situation comes and I discover a love money once was when I got a gift and the Lord said are you happy and I discovered I had a a joy in my heart which is not a joy in the Lord but a joy in money that I got and the Lord said I want to free you from that I want to bring you to a life where your joy will only be in the Lord and whether you lose money or get money won't make a difference I believe God's brought me there now because I worked at it but that was just one more layer and like that I've discovered love of money is a layer after layer after layer and I say Lord I want to come to the place where I look at money exactly like Jesus he could have Judas still steal as money and it didn't even disturb him that's quite a place to come to

Channel: River of Life Christian Fellowship

Views: 16,450

Rating: 4.8132296 out of 5

Keywords: everything, love, god, man, zac, poonen, sermon, rlcf, mens, conference, 2013, river, life, christian, fellowship

Id: gwJbJqPhTSM

Length: 59min 53sec (3593 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 13 2013